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Cadden Blackthorne/Legends
"We must look to the future, or there will be no future to look forward to." :— Cadden Blackthorne. Cadden Blackthorne (19 BBY) was born at the end of the Clone Wars, to Faarel and Trina Blackthorne. Since then, he has developed into a strong individual, and become quite the formidable warrior. Biography Cadden Blackthorne has always been a strong individual. Being only about thirty-five standard years of age, he has grown into a powerful man, being the first of a new breed of Force-wielding users dubbed the Guardians of the Force, as well as the leader of the new Eleyanos Confederacy. During his entire life, Cadden has served as a mercenary, the leader of the Republic of Altorax, and most notably a bounty hunter. In recent times, he has become the equivelance of a Jedi Master, having strong skills in lightsaber combat and a solid foundation in the Force. The Galactic Civil War Death of a Family Cadden learned of his father's death at the age of sixteen, after being told to flee to safety away from Coronet (and thus traveled to Dantooine with his father's most trusted friend and Cadden’s personal trainer afterwards, Taren Casadar) and left for Corellia about an hour after the report was made. When he arrived, his fears were true... Faarel and Trina, his beloved and benevolent parents, were dead. Cadden was outraged, but that didn't stop him from investigating the matter. He had come to a conclusion that it was someone from within the Empire that had killed his parents. Unable to investigate further, Cadden returned to Dantooine, where he was safely hidden by his personal trainer - still unaware that his brother and sister, Trai and Tamerah, were away during the incident and were still alive. During Cadden's escape, his ship miscalculated a jump to lightspeed, and plummeted itself to an unanticipated destination - the Eleyanos Sector. There, the ship crash-landed on the planet Altorax, where Cadden spent the next several days as a prisoner, before being released upon being discovered as an outsider. Over the course of time, Cadden developed the trust of the Altorax people and, through an unforseen circumstance, the people adopted him as their newfound leader, realizing his potential to lead them to peace in the on-going Altorax-Ordid War. The true purpose of the war remains yet a mystery to anyone outside of the star systems. But the people of the Ordid System were of tyrannical nature, and thus wanted to hold Altorax in its grasp. The war had been going on for about six years on a losing streak for the Altorax people, until Cadden arrived. Cadden learned of his father's death at the age of nineteen, and left for Corellia about an hour after the report was made. When he arrived, his fears were true... Faarel and Trina, his beloved and benevolent parents, were dead. Cadden was outraged, but that didn't stop him from investigating the matter. He had come to a conclusion that it was someone from within the Empire that had killed his parents. Unable to investigate further, Cadden returned to Altorax, still not knowing that his brother and sister, Trai and Tamerah, were away during the incident and were still alive. By now, Palpatine had disbanded the Senate after Mon Mothma issued a strongly worded Declaration of Rebellion. Cadden Blackthorne was forced to leave Altorax after a small dispute with his people, being falsely accused of actually supporting the Ordid people. Cadden Blackthorne was forced to fend for himself, spending many weeks as a suffering young man, doing random jobs for a few credits in his pocket to keep a roof over his head and food in his stomach. One day, his luck was on the verge of changing, as he saw an ad for an irresistible position... and through this work he became the rich Vice Administrator and Head Diplomat at Cloud City. After many months of hard work to obtain this position, Cadden held it for no more than a year, for the bright young businessman on the world of Bespin was framed for killing a Cloud City official, and was imprisoned for the murder. Against the wishes of his pleader, the arrogant young man remained unrepentant to the trial court, and Cadden Blackthorne was exiled from Cloud City, stripped of all he owned. He used what few ties he had to begin on the investigation of his parents' deaths, and traveled back to Corellia to search the Blackthorne Estate. He spent the next several weeks performing investigative work, discovering what he could about the perpitrators and the details of his family's fall. Soon, Cadden had learned that the Imperial Inquisitor was responsible, acting with orders directly from the Emperor himself. It was not enough for Cadden, and so he journeyed into the sublevel of the estate, searching for more clues to his parents' deaths. He was looking for those directly responsible, not for those he would never get a chance in finding, and taking his revenge on. It was in the sublevels of the estate that Cadden found a data disc. Believing it to be something that could lead him to those responsible for his misery, Cadden searched the data on the disc. He soon found information about the whereabouts of a suit of armor, which had belonged to one of his ancestors. Dawn of a Legend :"It's a first come, first serve business. I don't need the Guild's 'Code' to be successful." :— Cadden Blackthorne. Cadden followed the trail, having to fight many fights over the next couple months, before he found himself on Dathomir, and the location of an old hut. Entering the former homestead, Cadden found a chest, sealed shut and air-tight. He spent the next couple days attempting to open the chest, until he finally was able to open it. Contained inside was a full suit of blood-red Mandalorian Armor. Cadden looked at the perfectly-preserved legendary piece of equipment with awe, all the while wondering how any of his family could have gotten their hands on such a thing. It was at that point Cadden was a free man. From that moment on, Cadden trained himself rigorously on several different worlds, taking on beasts of nature big and small alike. During this timeframe, Cadden had purchased a Firespray-class Patrol Ship, dubbing it the Pursuer based off of his pursuit for his Mandalorian armor. He used this ship as his personal transport, and each week he put a distinct modification to it. Like Boba Fett, Cadden had remained silent about the origins of his armor. He used the mysticism, and the perk that a similar Boba Fett was a notorious bounty hunter, to climb even higher in notoriety in the Underworld, until Cadden had become a very common household name. Not even the Empire was capable of touching him at this point, for the Blackthorne bounty hunter had become one of the most feared individuals in the fringes of space, next to Boba Fett, Bossk, IG-88, Raptor, and other well-known bounty hunters. Cadden made certain to upkeep and upgrade his armor as often as he was able. He modified his armor to include a macrobinocular viewplate helmet, motion and sound sensors, infrared capabilities, an internal comlink with his ship, the Pursuer, and a broadband antenna for intercepting and decoding transmissions. Wrist gauntlets housed lasers, a miniature flame projector, and a fibercord whip/grappling device; a backpack jet pack included a turbo-projected magnetic grappling hook with twenty-meter lanyard. Cadden also carried a knee-pad rocket dart launcher, spiked boots, a concussion-gernade launcher, and a BlasTech EE-3 rifle. Even though his gizmos were that of Fett, Cadden's skills didn't quite equal the other hunter's, but he was confident that soon he would get the opportunity to rise to second best soon enough. Throughout his life, Cadden had worked as a warrior, a politician, mechanic, a trader, businessman, mercenary, soldier, personal guard, assassin, and, most frequently, as a bounty hunter - one of the most expensive bounty hunters in the known systems. He collected 150,000 credits for the capture of a notorious pirate, and took 500,000 credits when he caught the religious Twi'lek heretic Grok for the Hutts. The only hunter who had bested his work during his career as a hunter was the famed Boba Fett. Cadden never took his helmet off, not for anybody or under any occassion. It was rumored that he was a grotesquely disfigured man, and was ashamed of seeing his own face. Another rumor had it that he did not wish to be reminded of his family, and the tradegy that remained in the memory of Corellia. The truth behind Cadden's behavior remained the same, however, in the fact that he used the armor to strike fear into others. He was quick and agile enough to hunt without it, but Cadden knew that anyone whom bore Mandalorian armor automatically gained the respect of others. Cadden returned to working for the Hutts, and got a hefty salary out of his occupation with them, and even started working for the Empire. He was always slow and methodical and as unpredictable as the shifting sands of Tatooine. He rarely lost his quarry, and had shown no remorse for their fate. Cadden was known to work with other bounty hunters, but his motives may have been to show the others up; Cadden had always emerged as the one who caught the prize. He had yet to actually test his skills against the famed Boba Fett and find out who was the better hunter. Chasing a Jedi :"He was definately a worthy adversary...." :— Cadden Blackthorne, about Cameo Naton. At one point, Cadden had been on hire to intercept and eliminate Jedi Knight Cameo Naton, and was backed by a very large reward. Cadden had spent several weeks tracking Cameo and learning about the other. Opportunity struck when the Jedi was to meet with someone interested in becoming his apprentice on some backwater planet. Cadden had taken the opportunity to exterminate the future apprentice and take the ten thousand credit reward, and used that as his chance to ambush the unsuspecting Jedi Knight. Cameo took the bait, but he had escaped Cadden's grasp. The bounty hunter chased Cameo around for some time, never meeting with success, before he finally gave up the pursuit and accepted the ten thousand, instead of the heavier 900,000 offered on the Jedi Knight, and went on his way. Cadden and Cameo would eventually meet again, nearly fifteen years later. However, Cadden had finally found a chance to face off with the Imperial Inquisitor, Ansara Bansari, responsible for his parents' deaths. He dueled Ansara, and had emerged victorious with nothing more than a mere cut in the Inquisitor's right arm before she fled the scene. Several weeks later, Cadden had finally tracked down and eliminated the team he believed responsible for his parents' deaths, thus effectively removing an aged act of vengeance. Fall of a Hunter :"I know there is still good in you, Cadden." :— Renalla Starrider. As his last jobs, Cadden had turned in the Imperial traitorous senator Ubio for 300,000 credits and a hyperdrive for the one partially responsible for his capture, Councelor Jobe. During the capture of the Bothan former senator, Cadden had run in to a Jedi Knight named Renalla Starrider. He did not know it at that point, but that woman was to be the sole person responsible for his leaving the bounty hunting trade. When Cadden returned from his deliverance of Ubio to Imperial authorities in order to give Jobe his hyperdrive, complications came along and Jobe left the ship to, unexpectedly, Jade. Later Cadden returned and successfully captured Dark Jedi Cazzik Wyn and turned him in to Karde for 1,500,000 credits. That was his last bounty, and Cadden assisted the Dark Jedi in escaping Karde's clutches for reasons unknown. It is unknown how long Cadden had planned to change, but when he did, the entire galaxy was in shock. The famous bounty hunter returned to the Altorax system and reclaimed his position as the President after proving himself innocent from previous charges, appointing his close friend, Trai Kanossi, the title of Consortium, or the second in command of the government. What he had done with his ship, the Pursuer, and his blood-red Mandalorian armor is only known by Cadden and Trai, but he kept all of his weaponry he used in his bounty hunting business and bought some new features for his new line of work. Some of those features were a wrist-mounted data pad and a new ship - a YT-1300, named the Hyper Lightning. It was clear that Cadden had changed, yet if it was for the better or for the worse, only time would tell. Over the course of time, Altorax had finally beaten its Ordid enemies back to the planet Ordid and had eventually won the war, but with a ghastly cost. At the Republic of Altorax's weakest moment, and after Cadden had left the sector once again for personal business, the Empire had attacked it and completely pushed it back into its own system and back at its home, Altorax. Within a week the Empire had taken control, and the Altoraxians either surrendered or had already defected to the renegade Imperial Grand Admiral Tyfus's Imperium. It wasn't until afterwards that Cadden had discovered his Force-sensitivity, and over the course of time, had developed a perfection for hiding his presence in the Force. Much like how the Jedi Master Yoda had hid himself with the Dark Tree on Dagobah, but Cadden did not need any kind of mysterious, dark location to remain hidden. It was a trait that could only be perfected to this extent by few, and the Blackthornes were no exception. In order to keep his situation a secret, Cadden had placed an under-the-table order for an HRD, which would look exactly like him, to do his dirty work. For some time, the HRD succeeded in keeping the Empire away from Cadden. Days following a distress signal sent out from the secretive Kintarn Nebula, Cadden had regrouped with his allies, the Altoraxians, after discovering his heritage. He then devised a plan that had ultimately put an end to Tyfus and his Imperium, and was a cornerstone for the long process of reuniting the Republic of Eleyanos once again. After the Battle of Quarfik was over, with the result of the fall of Tyfus and his Imperium, Cadden went to Ordid and made negotiations that would keep the Empire out of Eleyanos forever. Negotiations were short and successful, and soon Imperials had withdrawn their forces from Eleyanos. Cadden, Trai, and Black one-eighteen soon followed the example, leaving the people to their destiny as the three took part in their own. After the Battle of Endor Rise and Fall of Blackthorne Enterprises :"He replaced his blaster with a lightsaber... his armor with a spacer's uniform." :— Trai Kanossi, on Cadden's change. Later, Cadden finally resurfaced and re-established Blackthorne Enterprises, a family corporation which remained dead for 30 years. The company had gotten off to a good start, and continued to see some promising times at the rate it was going, yet Cadden's old ways got the better of him again. The freedom fighter, and now Jedi-in-training, decided to send a kamikaze ship to Bilbringi, the center of the Empire. He was to pilot it, and collide a modified, custom frigate, packed to the max with highly dangerous and explosive missiles and other detonating projectiles into the planetoid, but one of his Elite Guard members, Trasj Ricknas, took it instead. Following the kamikaze attack, the Empire sent massive forces to the already-fleeing Blackthorne Enterprises forces, but they still outnumbered the company three to one. Because of an Interdictor field, Cadden's forces lost approximately 75% of its military forces and around 12% of its evacuees, a heavy loss for the company. Captain Irrad of the Red Star Alliance Star Frigate Benevolent gave the ultimate sacrifice, however, staying behind to delay the Empire. As soon as he knew that the company could escape, the Benevolent self-destructed, destroying all on-board, which seemed to include Cadden's personal ship, the Pursuer. After the Blackthorne Enterprises forces had retreated to Midpoint Station, they hypered out toward their next rendezvous point in a series of jumps to shake the Empire off of their tails. However, Cadden, along with Trai, Tamerah, Ryy'Suuk, and Renalla Starrider, all got found themselves in an unknown sector of the Unknown Regions to face their ultimate trial of their skills. Blackthorne's Trial :"The same blood runs through both of us. The blood of a beast who wanders, hunting for the blood of others." :— Ulfik Nevekron, during his and Cadden's duel. But while they were stuck on the ice world Talmohkt, Black one-eighteen, Cadden's Human Replica Droid, sacrificed himself to Ket Maliss in order to have the bounty lifted off of the real Cadden Blackthorne's head. His last move was sending out a message to an Altoraxian agent by the name of Kay'l Syao, a message that would have to be given to Ket Maliss prior to the agent's visit to Junrest, in order to get the apparent killer of Cadden Blackthorne a message from Altorax itself. A week after being on the ice world, Cadden finally faced a great soul stealer named Ulfik Nevekron, who had a Dark Jedi Master inside his essence. After a heated duel, Cadden managed to get a jab through Ulfik's defenses with his lightsaber, killing the man almost instantly. While that was going on, a heated battle between Triad and Imperium forces was going on just outside the spaceport they were sent to destroy. Cadden got the detonators placed and had to manually detonate them, racing the explosion out on a hoverbike and barely escaping with his own life, while I'Flym valiantly saved Renalla's life by stopping a jab at her from an Imperium troop's batton. The troop was confronted by Renalla and Ryy'Suuk and taken away, and Renalla went down to the wounded Cadden. After saying their good-byes, the gang hypered away from the planet and back to Altorax, where Cadden spent the next few hours recovering from his wounds. However, when he had first awoken, he discovered Renalla had left, and perhaps would never know of the real reasons why. As soon as he was healed, he was cleared of all doubts. He could not remain hidden forever... but he did know that there was one thing he had yet to do. However, trouble was brewing in Eleyanos. Having barely stopped an attack from the sector against the Empire, Cadden saved them from utter destruction against the Klodrans, and later helped stop an uprising against the government. Afterwards, Cadden set out on a personal journey to find his destiny. During this time, he had constructed his own, unique lightsaber. To Fall and Rise Back Up :"I always knew you were destined to the Dark Side." :- Klatonn. While in his time of seclusion, Cadden received a call for help from a familliar source - Talmohkt, the ice world in which Cadden and his friends had returned from but a standard year prior. Cadden accepted the stressed call for aid, and returned to the ice world, alone this time. However, the call was a trap - the Nomad Soul had returned in his full form, a grotesque alien by the name of Klatonn. Klatonn, the original Nomad Soul, had gathered enough strength to return from the netherworld, whereupon he goaded Cadden to the Dark Side by claiming to be the cause of the deaths of his entire family, including Renalla Starrider. Cadden, enfuriated, charged the Nomad Soul, lightsaber in hand and blade extended, and brought the saber down on the ancient nemesis of his with all his might. However, Klatonn had a new apprentice with him - a man by the name of Carth Dyral. Carth blocked the blow, but Cadden simply kicked the younger man away in response, and cut Klatonn down. Letting his rage take over, Cadden released a destructive surge of energy on Klatonn, completely destroying the creature's body, and sending his spirit back into the abyss. But at a great cost. With that simple act, Cadden had engulfed himself in the Dark Side, and soon after the defeat of the Nomad Soul, Cadden arose to the creature's place. He led Talmohkt into a revolutionary stage, where the planet was to engage in modern technological advances of space, a movement that the people accepted well, but was masked with a true purpose - Cadden, with his newfound rage and dark powers, was intending on launching a frontal assault against the outskirts of the Outer Rim, in an attempt to raise a force to strike at the heart of the Empire. However, plans went awry, and Cadden found himself engaged in a fierce duel against Carth Dyral for the position of leader. At the end of the duel, though, both warriors ended in a draw, but both with a price to pay. Carth lost his vocal cords, and Cadden his right eye. Agreeing to continue the duel another time, the two decided to focus on getting off Talmohkt, first. However, when civil war erupted, the rebels led by Cadden's sister Tamerah and his long-time friend, Trai Kanossi, alongside Ryy'Suuk, Cadden's sister and two friends managed to convince him to abandon his efforts. After some struggle, Cadden launched into space, using the very single-crewed fighter he arrived on the world with, and destroyed a subspace portal that was to lead the people of Talmohkt to their new home. Staging his own death, Cadden used decisive timing and expert piloting to escape through the portal, as it collapsed upon itself. He emerged in the Outer Rim territories, and ultimately decided to head to the Hoth System, whereupon he crash-landed on the ice world. He barely survived the wreckage, due to the interference of a Zabrak named Zartok Ular. When Cadden awoke three days later, he found himself with an artificial eye, and a thanks to be found with a new ally. He spent the next two weeks in recovery and, with no way off Hoth, he dedicated a lot of that time to meditation and training. Cadden had realized the kind of monster he had become, back on Talmohkt, and saw his time on Hoth as a good one to remain separated from all those whom he cared about, in hopes that his seclusion could rid him of his taint. After the third week, Cadden received a visit from a man named Kladaar, an older ancestor of his from six generations prior, in his spirit form. Kladaar informed Cadden of a dark past that his family had shared, for quite some time, until they had come to the Jedi Order and a new generation of Blackthornes had been established. However, to keep Cadden from walking down the dark path, he refused to disclose any details. Instead, he warned Cadden of the dangers of the Dark Side, that once one walked down that path, it would forever dominate one's destiny, consume their will. And, for those that repented, they would be engulfed in a war with themselves, a war to purge the dark taint that would remain. Kladaar parted with these words: "A Jedi is free to follow the path he has chosen, but do not mistake the path of the Dark Side to be the strongest of the two. It is merely the easiest." It was only afterwards that Cadden had realized that the last he saw his ship, the Pursuer, it was in the Empire's raid of Blackthorne Enterprises two years prior. Taking a gamble, he called the ship on a personal wristpad, and but a couple hours later, his Firespray-class ship found its way to his location, and landed outside. Cadden then made long preparations to leave Hoth, once and for all, and even took Zartok and his medical droid with him after a week's worth of preparations. From there, Cadden re-surfaced, joining forces with Jhuston Vox in the apprehension of the notorious pirate Kaldone for Esran Croft. Zartok had lost his life in the hunt, but the others managed to pull off the bounty with little trouble. However, during the capture of Kaldone, Cadden had detonated the Pursuer, with his armor inside, in order to grant them the time needed to escape Kaldone's ship. Only weeks later had Talon Karde approached him with the gift of the Pursuer II, as a reward for Cadden helping him some time ago. Cadden once again went into seclusion, where he had discovered that Carth Dyral had escaped Talmohkt and, after repenting from the Dark Side himself, had fallen under the magics of a Sith Lord. Cadden faced off with Carth for the last time, aiding the old rival in purging the Sith from his mind, whereupon they parted on peaceful terms. Cadden then joined up with Ryy'Suuk and Jaylin Kumar, returning once again to Eleyanos, where they found themselves to be just in time for a new menace to the sector – the Resh’tkan Invasion. The invasion had nearly cost the sector, as they had barely managed to defeat Klatonn, the Nomad Soul Cadden had fought on Talmohkt twice, and in a last-ditch effort had defeated the Resh’tkan mother ship Ravana, en route to Kiltrath, Eleyanos’ capital. Cadden helped Eleyanos rebuild from the war effort, and stayed in the sector long enough to see through the Second Resh’tkan Invasion, whereupon Eleyanos had defeated the alien forces at their source, and sealed off their home sector from the rest of the galaxy, but at the cost of several of their own ships that had been left behind in a frantic attempt to beat the Resh’tkans out of the sector. Cadden then afterwards left the sector, after learning that his father could still be alive. Taking the Inferno with him, Cadden, along with Ryy'Suuk, Jerik, and Guan, returned to the galaxy, whereupon they picked up on a Jedi assembly at Midpoint. However, at this time, Cadden learned of the Xen'Chi and Gait, and wished to investigate further. Guan decided to go to Midpoint and discover what was up with the emergency meeting, suspecting it having something to do with these two new threats. From there, he met his grandfather, Faarel, and a further reunion occurred with Jerik during the New Jedi Order's departure from the place. Guan opted to stay with Faarel, while Jerik returned to Cadden and gave him the news. Before Cadden could visit his father, however, he wound up finding the lead he'd always been looking for - the Inquisitor may have been responsible for his mother's death and fahter's near-death, but it was a Dark Jedi by the name of Ilan Garuda that had actually carried out the task. Cadden hunted Ilan down, finding him on the planet Falleen, where the two engaged in a heated duel. Cadden came out victorious, however, as a pile of duracrete collapsed on the assassin. Afterwards, Cadden met Teslar Maladan, whom helped him learn the inner mysteries of the Force, and prepare him to finish what he had begun. They lost track of Ilan, but later found him once again on Holoworld III. Teslar went to confront his old apprentice, whereupon Ilan emerged victorious, only to later meet his end at the hands of Cadden. Cadden made the trip to the Corellia System, whereupon he met up with his father, and a one-time rival, Cameo Naton. After a short reuinion, Cadden departed once again to continue his investigative work in the new threat that had surfaced. Time was running short, and they had to return to Eleyanos. Legacy Unfortunately, not all would go according to plan. Cadden soon received a distress call from an old acquaintance - Cazzik Wyn. The former Dark Jedi was in search for his sons, Caius and Xanic. With little other option than to help this man, Cadden made a rendezvous trip to meet with Cazzik, whereupon they found themselves on the planet Cerrik. There their adventure began. Once Cadden's task was finished with Cazzik, he decided to find his father and son, Guan, once more before returning to Eleyanos. Tracking them to Naboo, Cadden arrived in-system and landed in a relatively-isolated part of the planet. From there, he tracked them to Theed, whereupon he and his crew joined in a ferocious battle, alongside Jedi Masters Shaggy, Araya, Faarel, and Jedi Knight Guan.... Active Threads Naboo: War Makes Strange Friends II Shadow of Mystery